'A different glimpse for fans:' What to expect from Caitlin Clark ESPN+ docuseries.

INDIANAPOLIS — When Caitlin Clark was rising to national prominence, Peyton Manning was watching.

The legendary Indianapolis Colts quarterback, who founded the production company Omaha Productions in 2020, specializes in inside looks at athletes' lives. Omaha Productions collaborated with NFL Films to produce "Quarterback," a series that followed Kirk Cousins, Patrick Mahomes, and Marcus Mariota throughout the 2022 season, and Manning himself hosts a show called "Peyton's Places," where he breaks down different moments in sports history.

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He wanted to do the same thing with women's college basketball, which was on the rise to be the most popular it has ever been. So, he pitched the idea to Clark at Iowa, Kamilla Cardoso at South Carolina and Kiki Rice at UCLA to see if they wanted to participate in a documentary following them throughout the 2023-24 season. All of them said yes.

The idea coming from Manning, a legend in a different sport, showed how much the game has grown since Clark, Cardoso and Rice started their college careers.

"I think there's always other women's basketball legends supporting women's basketball, that's never been the issue, it's like almost other sports, and I think that's grown so much," Clark said following Indiana Fever practice Monday. "Whether it's football players, whether it's men's basketball players, whether it's golfers, swimmers, you can go down the list of the amount of professional athletes or even just public figures, famous public figures that are now supporting women's basketball, investing in women's basketball... for me, that's the coolest thing."

The docuseries starts with Iowa's historic scrimmage against DePaul, which the Hawkeyes held at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Over 55,000 fans attended, doubling the women's college basketball attendance record. The show follows the three players through their respective seasons and ends with the WNBA draft in Brooklyn, where Clark went No. 1 overall to the Fever and Cardoso went No. 3 to the Chicago Sky. Rice was a sophomore at UCLA through the 2023-24 season, so she was not eligible for the draft.

Along with the three players, it also features their teammates, coaches and families.

The show, which Clark was also an executive producer on, premieres Monday night at the Tobias Theater at Newfields in Indianapolis. Clark, Cardoso, Rice and Manning are all scheduled to be at the premiere. Clark said her coaches from Iowa are also planning to attend.

With this docuseries, Clark said, fans will get a better look at what happens in their lives; more than the on-court action or news conferences online. It will show both sides of the national championship game, as well — Cardoso won the championship with South Carolina, while Clark and Iowa fell short.

"I think the biggest thing was just that you can see what we do outside of basketball," Clark said. "When you're in college, you come and see us twice a week, see us play for two hours on the court. That's really all you get, you don't get anything else. Now you get to see a little more into our lives; you don't get to see every single second of our lives, but you're getting to see a lot of things that had maybe never been shown before, conversations people didn't know we had or interactions with family members, coaches, or teammates or fans, whatever it is, or how you're prepping for certain games like March Madness, a lot of that is covered. It's not something a lot of people will get to see, whether it's from the normal media or coming and watching us in-person, so it's definitely a different glimpse for fans or viewers."

For Clark and Cardoso, it ended up being a momento to their final seasons in college.

"One of the main reasons I wanted to participate and do this is because I knew going into this, whether it was going to be my last year or not in college, I hadn't decided, but being able to capture all this," Clark said. "It was a special time and getting to enjoy that not only for myself, but for the other two and their teams, and my team and my coaches."

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark previews ESPN+ Peyton Manning-produced Full Court Press